A new discovery has astonished archaeologists: they found cutting marks around cancerous parts on an ancient Egyptian skull, offering new insights into how ancient Egyptians treated this disease.
These findings provide unique evidence that ancient societies attempted to explore and perform surgeries for cancer thousands of years ago. According to “Frontier,” ancient texts showed that Egyptians of that era were exceptionally skilled in medicine. They could identify, describe, and treat diseases and injuries, build prosthetic limbs, and place dental fillings. However, for other conditions like cancer, they might have tried but were unable to cure them.
By studying the limits of trauma and tumor treatments in ancient Egypt, an international research team examined two human skulls, each thousands of years old. Tatiana Tondini, a researcher at the University of Tübingen and the lead author of the study published in “Frontiers,” stated: “We see that although ancient Egyptians were capable of handling complex skull fractures, cancer was still a boundary for medical knowledge.”
Edgard Camaros, a paleontologist at the University of Santiago de Compostela and co-author of the study, said: “This discovery is a unique piece of evidence of how ancient Egyptian medicine attempted to deal with or explore cancer over 4000 years ago. This offers an extraordinary new perspective on our understanding of the history of medicine.”
Cancer Excision
Tondini explained, “We wanted to understand the role of cancer in the past, how widespread this disease was in ancient times, and how ancient societies interacted with it.” To do so, researchers examined two skulls from the Duckworth Collection at the University of Cambridge.
Microscopic observation of one skull revealed a large lesion consistent with excessive tissue destruction, a condition known as a tumor.
Additionally, about 30 small, round lesions were spread across the skull. What astonished researchers was the discovery of cutting marks around these lesions, likely made with a sharp tool such as a metal instrument. “When we first observed the cut marks under the microscope, we couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” said Tondini.
Albert Isidro, a surgical oncologist at the University of California and co-author, explained: “It seems ancient Egyptians performed some form of surgical intervention related to the presence of cancer cells, proving that ancient Egyptian medicine also engaged in experimental treatments or medical explorations regarding cancer.”
